SPANISH POP ART.
The sixties. Making up for lost time

September 21, 2004 – January 9, 2005

Pop art arose in the sixties during the most decisive decade of the second half of the twentieth century. It took on a special significance in the Spain of the Development Plan, when the last battle was waged between tradition and modernity, ending in the victory of the latter. This process of economic, social and cultural change was retarded, however, by the phantom of a dictatorship on its last legs, which did its utmost to create political obstacles in the face of what was already an irreversible change. In the case of Spanish Pop art, a style which, by nature, was figurative and which took its inspiration from popular icons and utilized the media of industrial technology, the contradiction between social change and political immobility was even more striking. In spite of all this, the censorship of the Franco regime could not prevent a handful of Spanish artists working in Spain and abroad from producing some noteworthy works, in some cases, with international repercussions.

Not only does this exhibition attempt to present for the first time a selection of the most outstanding Spanish Pop artists, but it also aims to reflect the tensions and contradictions inherent in Spanish society during that time. This is not an “archeological” selection indiscriminately composed of every Spanish artist who in some way or at some time has produced works having to do with aspects of Pop art. Instead, we have limited the exhibition to those key figures who are represented by works which fit in perfectly with that particular chronological moment—the sixties—or, at most, the beginning of the seventies. We have also taken into account the fact that each artist chosen represents a particular aspect or direction within the movement. In accordance with this criteria we have selected five artists: Eduardo Arroyo, Equipo Crónica, Juan Genovés, Luis Gordillo and Darío Villalba. Moreover, by restricting the number of artists, the exhibit has the added advantage of presenting an anthological ensemble which illustrates adequately their respective trajectories during those crucial years.

Although the nucleus of the exhibition consists of works by these five artists, we have also enriched the project with two complementary aspects. On the one hand, the exhibit contains a testimonial and symbolic presence of a handful of works done in the sixties by Dalí. It is no accident that he is one of the few artists of the historical vanguard who was tuned in to the frequencies of international Pop art, in addition to reflecting in his own work the most contradictory side of that very peculiar Spanish modernization. On the other, interspersed within the exhibition is an anthological selection of Spanish Pop photography of the sixties—something which had never been done before. This provides us with a sociological window through which we can glimpse some aspects of Spanish society at that historical moment.

Finally, given the nature and aspirations of this project, the catalogue contains texts dealing with that exciting historical moment in our country from a non-artistic point of view and a wealth of graphic images representative of the time, in addition to the usual material included in an exhibition of this type.

Sponsored by Fundación Telefónica, Ministerio de Cultura and Fundación Caja Madrid.